Moderna Invests $1 Billion in Shanghai, China

Hong Kong Media Report
Sales Growth Stalls... Strategic Move to Enter Chinese Market as Breakthrough Plan

Moderna, the American pharmaceutical company that developed the COVID-19 vaccine, is expected to invest about 1 billion USD (approximately 1.3 trillion KRW) in Shanghai, China.

Entrance of Moderna factory in Norwood, Massachusetts, USA
[Photo by AFP News Agency]

According to foreign media including the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 5th, Moderna is scheduled to sign a local investment agreement of this scale with the Shanghai municipal government as early as today.

Earlier, in May, Moderna registered the corporation "Moderna (China) Biotech Co., Ltd." in Shanghai, describing it as a preliminary step for entering the Chinese market. This is Moderna's first corporation established in mainland China. Prior to that, it opened an office in Hong Kong last year.

Shanghai suffered significant damage after locking down the city for two months last year due to the spread of COVID-19. SCMP reported, "Despite worsening US-China relations and the US seeking regulations on investments in China, Moderna has moved forward with entering the Chinese market."

Moderna's sales growth has sharply declined recently due to reduced demand for COVID-19 vaccines. In this situation, it is interpreted that Moderna decided to invest in Shanghai to find a breakthrough through entering the Chinese market.

Previously, China had administered COVID-19 vaccines developed by domestic pharmaceutical companies such as Sinopharm and Sinovac to its citizens during the three years of its "Zero COVID" policy, and did not approve the use of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines developed by foreign companies like Pfizer and Moderna. After switching to a "With COVID" policy in January this year, China only approved the emergency use of its domestic Suyao Group's mRNA vaccine in March and began vaccinations in May.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.